Patricia Neal

Frequently, my life has been likened to a Greek tragedy, and the actress in me cannot deny that comparison."

The role that made Patricia Neal a star, at age 20, was Regina in "Another Part of the Forest" in 1946 as one critic called her "a young Tallulah Bankhead." She was visited backstage by Tallulah Bankhead, who had played the middle-aged Regina in "The Little Foxes" and said "Dahling, you were as good as I was... and if I said you were half as good, it would have been a hell of a compliment!"

Neal began a relationship with Gary Cooper on the set of "The Fountainhead" (1949). He was forty-seven, she was twenty-two. In 1951, Cooper separated from his wife with the intention of marrying Neal; however, he never filed for divorce, and in 1954, they reconciled. Unhappy with her roles in Hollywood, Neal was suspended by Warner Bros. for refusing to co-star with Randolph Scott in a western. That and her torrid but futile affair with Cooper, which led to an abortion and nervous collapse, quickened her decision to leave Hollywood and return to New York City where she refocused on theater. Before rehearsals began for the 1952 Broadway revival of "The Children's Hour" starring Neal and Kim Hunter, playwright Lillian Hellman hosted a formal party. There, Neal first met author Roald Dahl, and they were married nine months later.

Her 5-month-old baby son Theo Dahl suffered severe neurological damage on December 5, 1960, when his carriage (which was being pushed by a nurse) was accidentally crushed between a taxi and a bus in New York City. He survived following several operations.

Neal is one of 6 actresses to have been pregnant at the time of winning the Academy Award; the others are Eva Marie Saint, Meryl Streep, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Rachel Weisz and Natalie Portman. Neal is the only to have not accepted her award in person as a result of her pregnancy. Neal was 8 months pregnant with her daughter Ophelia Dahl when she won the Best Actress Oscar for "Hud"